Background to the Brandwood vote
| Published: 10th September 2007 10:55 |
The by-election on 20 September follows the death of Conservative councillor Ken Hardeman during the summer.
Each Birmingham City Council ward is represented by three councillors and Ken Hardeman was one of these. The other two, neither of whom face re-election this month, are Cllr Mark Hill and Cllr Neville Summerfield. Both are Conservatives.
Tory campaigners are hoping to hold on to the third seat by fielding Ken Axford, husband of Cllr Susan Axford in the neighbouring Billesley Ward. He stood for election in South Yardley earlier this year and in Acocks Green in 2006. In both cases he finished fourth behind Lib Dems, Labour and the BNP.
Labour will now be looking for the record of new Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help swing the Brandwood vote in their favour. Their candidate is veteran former councillor Mike Leddy, who previously lost his seat to the Lib Dems in Perry Barr.
Mike Leddy made the news earlier this year when he resigned as a governor of Perry Beeches School in a row with the city council over the future of the head teacher there.
The British National Party has nominated one of their local heavyweights Robert Purcell to fight for Brandwood. He polled the party's fourth highest total in May this year (894 votes in Oscott ward). Fellow right-winger Keith Axon also stood in Oscott where he got 102 votes.
The UKIP candidate stood in Edgbaston last time round, where he could only muster 75 votes.
Green Party hopeful Anna Masters trailed the field in Brandwood at the 2006 and 2007 elections with less than 500 votes, although the general rise in environmental concerns could strengthen her position.
Just two of the eight candidates live in the ward they seek to represent. Independent Frank Chance and Brian Peace, standing for the Liberal Democrats, live close to each other off Allens Croft Road. The Lib Dems may struggle to make an impact, as Brian Peace polled 730 votes in May 2007 - although the party often fares better in by-elections.
The late Cllr Hardeman was elected for the Conservatives in 2006 with a 309-vote majority over Labour.
In recent years the ward has seen a straight two-horse race between Conservative and Labour. The Tories increased their majority slightly last year by taking votes from the BNP, who came third in 2006, and the Lib Dems.
The full list of candidates standing for election is
- AXFORD Ken - Conservative
- AXON Keith - New Nationalist Party
- CHANCE Frank - Independent
- JONES Francois William Teissier - UK Independence Party
- LEDDY Michael Patrick - Labour
- MASTERS Anna Lucille - Green Party
- PEACE Brian Alec - Liberal Democrat
- PURCELL Robert - British National Party
Find out what each of these candidates have to say for themselves in our by-election coverage
The by-election will take place on Thursday 20 September between 7am and 10pm. The count will be the same evening in Colmore Junior School, with the result expected to be declared around 11pm.
